


Star-bound

by Yuliares



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Outer Space, Pining, separated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29076915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuliares/pseuds/Yuliares
Summary: In a far-flung future, Joe and Nicky try to find each other again amidst the vastness of outer space.u-Suf looked out into the darkness, gleaming with galaxies and starlight, and sighed.Sixty years now, and each day seeming longer.Back when humans were stuck on Earth, at least he knew they’d be looking up at the same stars, sharing the same orbit. It had seemed so big, at the time.All things change.A whisper, from a treasured voice:All things die.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22
Collections: All and More (18+) Kaysanova Gift Bag 2020





	Star-bound

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MidnightGardener](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightGardener/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [MidnightGardener](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightGardener/pseuds/MidnightGardener) in the [All_and_More_Gift_Bag_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/All_and_More_Gift_Bag_2020) collection. 



> For HeyBrewtiful on Discord  
> PROMPT: Joe and Nicky are forced apart for some reason, and are driven to find each other again no matter the cost + the tag "Alternate universe - Space"  
>   
> This "space" is more future universe than alternate, but I hope it will do.

u-Suf looked out into the darkness, gleaming with galaxies and starlight, and sighed. 

Sixty years now, and each day seeming longer.

Back when humans were stuck on Earth, at least he knew they’d be looking up at the same stars, sharing the same orbit. It had seemed so big, at the time.

All things change.

A whisper, from a treasured voice:  _ All things die. _

They had stuck to the planet for as long as they could, wary of implants and the limitless expanse of space, where it was so, so easy to get lost. They buried Andy there, next Quyhn, finally united and seeping back into the dirt and stone that they had walked for so long.

He’s glad, in a way. They deserved to rest. 

Besides, no one makes baklava anymore.

The stars beckoned, and their small army went.

u-Suf stopped sketching their faces long ago, too afraid to record their likeness, but when he closes his eyes he can still trace their familiar lines. The shadowed face of the man he’d forgiven, so many years ago as to seem a bad dream. i-El, no longer the youngest, but her eyes still bright. a-Jal, who’s fierceness burned hotter than the mining explosion that had consumed them and their host of siblings.

And always, always his moon in the darkness. 

The moon he would chase forever.

“I’ll find you,” he promised aloud, reaching to press a hand on the thick window of the ship, cold beneath his hand, even through the gloves. “Nicolò. Nicky. n-Kay.”

\+ + +

Every reunion lightened n-Kay’s heart, even as it drove a spike of despair deeper.

Andy had once told him  _ We’re not meant to be alone _ , her eyes distant, as if she were remembering the words. And she’s not alone - she has Quynh and Lykon to keep her company.

Unlike their small army, which is still missing one member.

Well, technically two, but that was a recent development. He wondered if u-Suf knew - his love had stopped sleeping about a decade ago. Dreams were an old-world thing now, a relic of by-gone empires.

Silently, n-Kay let his lips trace the beloved vowels, in all their variations. u-Suf. Joe. Yusuf al-Kaysani. Dear-heart.  _ Amore mio _ .

“Hey,” said i-El, putting a warm hand on his shoulder, and squeezing. “We’ll find him.”

“I know,” he said, nodding stiffly. “It’s just the waiting that is hard.”

\+ + +

It’s poetic, in a way. That the man who once almost destroyed them should finally bring them together again.

They’re on a dust planet with three suns and an explosives factory with malefic allies. n-Kay looks up when Buuk returns from his scouting run, in the midst of showing Ch’all the customizable settings on the plasma rifle, and the friendly nod turns to stone.

Buuk is not alone.

“Look who I ran into,” he says, mouth twisting. “Figured I’d bring him home with me.”

n-Kay isn’t sure what happened to the plasma rifle, he just knows it’s no longer in his hands and he’s halfway across the room, and u-Suf has surged up to meet him, their foreheads knocking into each other in their haste to make contact, skin on skin and pores and breathe.

With every inhale they say,  _ at last. _ Every exhale,  _ forever. _

All, and more, and always.


End file.
